Chris Van Allsburg
Lesson plans for Jumanji, Polar Express, and others

|About the Author| |Bad Day at Riverbend| |Ben's Dream| |The Garden of Abdul Gasazi| |Jumanji| |Just a Dream| |The Mysteries of Harris Burdick| |The Polar Express| |The Stranger| |The Sweetest Fig| |Two Bad Ants| |The Widow's Broom| |The Wreck of the Zephyr| |The Z was Zapped| |Zathura|

About the Author

For the Teacher
Word search puzzles, Venn diagrams, and other ideas for a variety of Van Allsburg books: The Stranger, Just a Dream, Two Bad Ants, Jumanji, The Widow's Broom. Available in both PDF and Ms-Word formats.

A video interview with Chris Van Allsburg
Biography, bibliography, video clips, and transcript.

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Bad Day at Riverbend

Bad Day at Riverbend
Summary, commentary, discussion questions, and a variety of teaching ideas.

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Ben's Dream

Leapin' Landmarks: Locating 10 Man-made Landmarks Around the World
Links to a lesson integrating literacy and geography, including all the handouts. Adobe Reader or compatible application required for access. This is a sample lesson at a commercial site.

A Teacher's Guide to Ben's Dream
Summary, discussion questions, literacy lessons for upper and lower grades, and ideas for creative followup.

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The Garden of Abdul Gasazi

The Garden of Abdul Gasazi
Plot summary, reading and writing ideas.

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Jumanji

Jumanji
Summary, discussion points, activities.

Jumanji
Summary, teaching ideas, discussion questions, a lesson on verbs, a lesson on theme, and 3 suggestions for creative writing.

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Just a Dream

Just a Dream
Cross-curricular activities to support the book.

Just a Dream
Guided questions to help students understand the economic concept of natural resources.

A Teacher's Guide for Just a Dream
Summary, discussion questions, a writing lesson for younger students, a reading lesson for older students, and 4 follow-up activities.

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The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

A Teacher's Guide to The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Discussion questions, a writing lesson for older students, a reading lesson for younger students, and ideas for creative writing.

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Polar Express

All Aboard!
Students review elements of a story and create story maps.

The Polar Express
Scroll down on this page to find a variety of activities to support the book, including handouts, vocabulary, song lyrics, and other literacy and cross-curricular activities.

The Polar Express
Summary, ideas for a Polar Express Reading Celebration, questions for discussion, similes and metaphors, using a timeline, and 3 creative writing ideas.

The Polar Express
Ideas for using the book in kindergarten.

The Polar Express
Summary and 6 discussion questions.

The Polar Express
Lots of teaching ideas here, with emphasis on cross-curricular connections.

The Polar Express: Integrated Units
Scroll down on the page to find connections for art, social studies, science, music, and math, in addition to literacy activities. Requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.

The Polar Express: Math Activities
10 story problems related to the book.

The Polar Express: Story Sequencing Strips
Print this page and cut into strips for practice with story sequencing. Requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.

Polar Expressions
In this lesson elementary students develop expository writing skills.

Story Map with The Polar Express
This suggestion combines literacy with a craft activity.

Take The Polar Express to Learning
Five activities: a reading log, 2 puzzles, a craft, and a recipe. Requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.

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The Stranger

A Teacher's Guide to The Stranger
Summary, discussion questions, a writing lesson for younger students, a reading lesson for older students, and 3 followup activities.

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The Sweetest Fig

The Sweetest Fig
A variety of pre-reading and post-reading activities.

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Two Bad Ants

A Teacher's Guide: Two Bad Ants
Discussion questions, a writing lesson, a reading lesson, and ideas for creative writing.

Two Bad Ants
Reading/writing, vocabulary/spelling, and cross-curricular connections. Requires Adobe Reader or compatible application for access.

Two Bad Ants
Cross-curricular activities to support the book: map-making, ants, different perspectives.

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The Widow's Broom

The Widow's Broom
Spelling, reading, and writing ideas to support the book.

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The Wreck of the Zephyr

The Wreck of the Zephyr
An extensive list of post-reading activities.

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The Z was Zapped

A Teacher's Guide for The Z was Zapped
Summary, discussion questions, a writing lesson, a reading lesson, and ideas for creative writing.

The Z was Zapped
This lesson focuses on the reading skill of prediction and on alliteration.

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Zathura

Zathura
Plot summary, reading and writing ideas.

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